Harrassment on BART - How to remain calm
Harassment on BART is a very real problem. As a victim of it, I am sharing my tips on the ways to respond and how I dealt with it. I must emphasize that these are my personal strategies, and they may not all work for you. Use good judgement.
BART has an official anti-sexual harassment / gender based violence program.
BART takes on sexual harassment and gender based violence with new community-led partnership
This page deals with general harassment, which can happen to anyone at anytime.
While being harassed:
Afterwards:
Ending:
It is absolutely sad that I feel compelled to write this page. But if these tips help anyone, they will be worth it ten-fold. NO BART RIDER SHOULD EVER FEEL THAT THEIR LIFE IS IN DANGER.
BART needs to step up its fare enforcement and ban these vagrants, crackheads, dope fiends, etc for life. They should never be on BART, ever.
If you have any tips you’d like to share, please send a message through the contact page.
BART has an official anti-sexual harassment / gender based violence program.
BART takes on sexual harassment and gender based violence with new community-led partnership
This page deals with general harassment, which can happen to anyone at anytime.
While being harassed:
- De-escalate don't get into an argument with them. It's pointless. It's probably something incredibly stupid.
- Say as little as you need - Never give them details they can use against you.
- Do not feed them attention – It’s not a conversation with a friend. You’re trying to stay alive
- Say you are uncomfortable – Out right, if you can
Afterwards:
- Make sure the perpetrator has left
- Move to another car/another train/another part of the car, discreetly
- Report to BART Police – (510) 464-7000 or using the BART Police app, or tell a station agent, train operator. Sadly, all too often the perp just vanishes without being held accountable for their actions.
- Breathe – Slowly. Breathe in, hold it for 4 seconds, and out through your mouth, slowly, for 5 seconds. Or some variation. I was told this trick after witnessing a fatal incident on Caltrain – it works for incidents on BART too.
- Check your belongings – Make sure they didn’t steal anything of yours.
Ending:
- Talk to family/friends – This one works every time.
- Rest - an event like that is one of the most stressful parts of life.
- (Optional) Write to your BART Director - https://www.bart.gov/about/bod - Demand greater safety of BART patrons – you can share your experience on why it is very important.
- (Optional) Place a public records request for footage - https://bart.nextrequest.com – include car number, date, and about an hour before and after the incident.
- (Optional) Ride BART again – Everyone goes at their own pace. To get it out of my system, I ride the system again, sans incident.
It is absolutely sad that I feel compelled to write this page. But if these tips help anyone, they will be worth it ten-fold. NO BART RIDER SHOULD EVER FEEL THAT THEIR LIFE IS IN DANGER.
BART needs to step up its fare enforcement and ban these vagrants, crackheads, dope fiends, etc for life. They should never be on BART, ever.
If you have any tips you’d like to share, please send a message through the contact page.
